Safe to Soar: The Secret Sauce of Effective Veterinary Teams

Talk summary

Resilient teams are supported, or depleted, by the environment in which they work. While the nature of the work in a veterinary practice is often out of our control, the culture in our teams can be crafted to support wellbeing and performance at the individual, team, and whole-hospital levels. At the foundation of this is psychological safety.

Over 20 years of research by the likes of Harvard Business School professor, Dr. Amy Edmondson and organizations such as Google and Microsoft have shown the presence of psychological safety to be the #1 factor differentiating happy, effective teams from those that are languishing. Psychological safety is a necessary condition for veterinary teams to reach their highest potential. We can do work without it. To accomplish the great purpose we strive for in veterinary medicine, psychological safety is a must.

But what is psychological safety? And how can it be cultivated, nurtured, and maintained in veterinary teams? This session will answer those questions, and more.

Speaker bio

Josh Vaisman, CCFP, MAPPCP (PgD) – Flourish Veterinary Consulting

Josh Vaisman believes all veterinary professionals deserve to thrive in their work each and every day. Through his company, Flourish Veterinary Consulting, he combines over 20 year's experience in the veterinary field with a masters in Applied Positive Psychology & Coaching Psychology as well as extensive education in Positive Leadership and Positive Organizational Scholarship to help them do just that.

Josh lives in Firestone, CO with his wonderful wife, Greta, and a menagerie of ultra-spoiled critters. When not sharing the science of human thriving with the veterinary community he spends his time weightlifting, playing indoor soccer, reading, cooking, and tending to his bees.